The discrimination and classification of allergy-relevant pollen was studied for the first time by mid-infrared Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy together with unsupervised and supervised multivariate statistical methods. Pollen samples of 11 different taxa were collected, whose outdoor air concentration during the flowering time is typically measured by aerobiological monitoring networks. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis provided valuable information about the reproducibility of FT-IR spectra of the same taxon acquired either from one pollen grain in a 25 x 25 microm2 area or from a group of grains inside a 100 x 100 microm2 area. As regards the supervised learning method, best results were achieved using a K nearest neighbors classifier and the leave-one-out cross-validation procedure on the dataset composed of single pollen grain spectra (overall accuracy 84%). FT-IR microspectroscopy is therefore a reliable method for discrimination and classification of allergenic pollen. The limits of its practical application to the monitoring performed in the aerobiological stations were also discussed.

As the detection of inorganic contaminants is of steadily increasing importance for the improvement of yields in microelectronic applications, the aim of one of the joint research activity within the European Integrated Activity of Excellence and Networking for Nano- and Micro-Electronics Analysis (ANNA, site: www.ANNA-i3.org) is the development and assessment of new methodolo¬gies and metrologies for the detection of low concentration inorganic contaminants in silicon and in novel materials. A main objective consist in the benchmarking of various analytical techniques avail¬able in the laboratories of the participating ANNA partners, including the improvement of the res¬pective detection limits as well as the quantitation reliablity of selected analytical techniques such as total-reflection x-ray fluorescence (TXRF) analysis.

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The 2020 release of the EU GMP Annex 1 draft includes a new chapter on viable and non-viable environmental and process monitoring. The contamination control strategy and its dependence on trend analysis, process understanding, thorough investigation, and a commitment to progress is now an essential activity referenced multiple times through the document. There is also clear differentiation between qualification and monitoring, and quality risk management concepts are critical to successful implementation of system controls.